'Authoritarian personality syndrome': Psychologists detail what triggers 'extremely dangerous' Trump

Psychological experts are calling President Donald Trump "the most impulsive and unpredictable U.S. president of our lifetimes."

In an article in the New York Times published Tuesday, author Thomas B. Edsall asked psychological experts to weigh in on how dangerous Trump is likely to become if he senses defeat and rejection.

"I think it is impossible to say. But based on the first 100 days of this presidency, I would say extremely dangerous to any and all democratic institutions and proponents," John Jost, a professor of psychology and politics at New York University, told the Times.

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Jost went on to say that the president may have the "authoritarian personality syndrome," because he exemplifies all nine of its characteristics.

According to Jost, these characteristics include aggression against those who deviate from established norms, submission to idealized moral authorities, uncritical acceptance of conventional values, mental rigidity and a proclivity to engage in stereotypical thinking, a preoccupation with toughness and power, exaggerated sexual concerns, a reluctance to engage in introspection, a tendency to project undesirable traits onto others, and destructiveness and cynicism about human nature.

Another psychologist, Steven Pinker, who has actively engaged with the Trump administration at Harvard University, stated that the president has acted out of vindictiveness by threatening to cut funding for research and revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status in reaction to the university's lawsuit. This occurred even after his administration acknowledged that the demands they sent were a mistake. This approach exemplifies governance driven by revenge rather than fairness.

"Bullies and street toughs think well of themselves not in proportion to their accomplishments but out of a congenital sense of entitlement. When reality intrudes, as it inevitably will, they treat the bad news as a personal affront, and its bearer, who is endangering their fragile reputation, as a malicious slanderer," Pinker was quoted as saying.

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“And the trio of symptoms at narcissism’s core — grandiosity, need for admiration and lack of empathy — fits political tyrants to a T. It is most obvious in their vainglorious monuments, hagiographic iconography, and obsequious mass rallies," he added.

According to a recent national CNN poll, Trump's approval rating has dropped to 41 percent. Two national surveys published in the past few days — a poll by the Associated Press and another by Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos—revealed that the president's support has fallen below 40 percent.

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